While I understand your desire for your sons to have peers their age to encourage them in their faith, I would say don't discount the idea that it doesn't have to be age-mates in a church who doing that. We are a part of church right now where we don't have our kids participating in kids' church and youth group because, honestly, we're not overly impressed with the fruit we see there (and we've always just enjoyed churching together as a family anyway). BUT our kids are still being uplifted and encouraged in their faith walk -- by the pastor, by the bongo drum guy, by the Greek and Hebrew scholar, by the sanguine nurse, by the gal with the 2yo that they love, etc. Our kids have conversational and heart-level relationship with these people, and these people have a genuine fondness and interest in our kids. It's so cool to see!!

I actually read an article about this once and the conclusion was (in part) that it's because of our relatively newness on the scene and that we're a mix of so many ethnicities. We don't have a food history or heritage like the French and the Italian and the Chinese and so we've focused instead just on eating in general (which has led to a preoccupation with dieting as well). Or something like that. What do you think?

We used to have a choreographed dance to that song. I can still sing the lyrics!! The first 45 I ever bought was Barry Manilow's Weekend in New England. O.M.Gosh. LOL!

Speaking of men/women and silver/gray .... my mom actually has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL silver hair. But that doesn't help me make my decision, lol. And I laughed when I read the "Gray is the new blonde" quote. I'll have to Uppercase Living that on my bathroom wall!!!!! :lol: Ay-yi-yi. It's still a toughie for me. I know I would like being freed up from feeling like I HAVE to keep up with it (coloring). But I also want to still feel young and peppy and fresh and fun. LOL. I did mention to my husband once that I wanted to go blonde once in my life ... and he looked horrified. He wouldn't like it. He doesn't like painted fingernails and makeup, though. (Or he THINKS he doesn't ... I'm pretty sure he likes it when I'm dolled up at least a little bit, KWIM?)

That's what I was thinking when I saw that line, too. I actually have very little problem with the "it takes a village" idea (I used to HATE this idea but as I've gotten older and watched our children grow and benefit tremendously in relationship with other people outside our family I've changed my mind) -- if the village idea is lived out naturally in a free society. NOT in a "we want your children and will guide them and their future" government.

I liked the video of course. It's wonderful! BUT I also remember that Germany is a country that has outlawed homeschooling because they see children as a ward of the state to a degree (and you can see some of this thinking in the video). I'm not quite at the end of the video (I'm on dialup. Grr.). And oh, I haven't listened to the sound yet -- I will once the whole thing has loaded. Was it produced by the government? Or who? Just curious! If the government, then the use of the word "we" in "We need more children" might change the intent of the video a tad, eh?

Janie, we had Tracfones once and did okay with them. Then I discovered Consumer Cellular and we switched to them for quite awhile. They have a no-contract feature that is GREAT and for as much as we used them, this was just as inexpensive as Tracfone without having to keep adding minutes. With CC you can up and down your plan each month depending on how many minutes you need each month. If you're going to go "over" significantly you can just up your plan to the next level online and then drop it down again the next month. Also, their customer service is top notch. We did switch to T-Mobile several months ago and like that a lot, too, but it does cost a bit more. Check out CC and let me know what you think! If you HAPPEN to want to sign up with them, I have some friends with CC so would you PM and let me know? IF you give their phone number in reference when you sign up, they will get a credit on their bill and so will YOU. Blessings, Darla

So. I'm 42 years old on Friday. My hair has been graying for about 8 years. It's mostly around the temple and through the part, but, well, okay, its total volume is expanding. I have long-ish hair, down past my shoulders. It's naturally curly but I straighten it sometimes too. My son took a digital pic of dh and I on vacation a couple of weeks ago -- and I was shocked with how obvious my gray is. I guess I don't "see" it when I look in the mirror. The photo made it much more noticeable. I've colored my hair with the washout type of coloring from a box maybe 8 or 10 times, starting about four years ago. I'm happy with these results when I do it (although I think it would be fun to get a salon coloring -- highlights, lowlights, whatever -- done sometime), but I don't stay up on it so if I'm trying to convince others -- besides myself -- that I'm not gray it's not working. :) Not that I really care. Or do I? That's the question, sort of, in this post. Do I care? Can I be a fun, hip, happening mom of seven ... with gray hair? Is anyone else freely and happily going gray? Should I make myself color? (Regularly going to a salon is not an option.) Or should I just stop worrying about it and keep doing what I'm doing and let the gray fall where it may? Help!

Um, no -- because I have a 4-month-old who's not sleeping through the night, lol. But they WERE great posts about Wetsy, Matt and their baby!!!

We've had memberships to both Costco and Sam's Club in the past. Where we live now, Costco is 40 minutes away and we had a membership there for the first year we lived here but then I started doing the math in my head. Gas + time + effort + membership fee + enjoyment level all added up to NOT WORTH IT anymore. And quite honestly I think I spend MORE when Costco is on my list of stores-to-visit because I *do* pick up numerous things that I wouldn't have purchased otherwise. Plus I have gotten to know what a really good deal is locally (even compared to Costco prices) and think I can come pretty close, and even come in lower sometimes, compared to Costco prices -- especially when adding in the $35 in gas I'm going to spend going there and back. For example, I was talking with a friend once and she mentioned buying butter at Costco and that she can't find it anywhere in a regular store for as little as she can buy it at Costco (under $2.00/pound). A store where we live regularly has it on sale for less than $2.00 a pound. Another local store somewhat regularly has canned beans and tomatoes go on sale for 33 cents/can -- this beats Costco by a bunch, so I stock up when these are on sale. A final example: milk. Not always, but sometimes a local store marks down their almost-out-of-dates to 50 cents/gallon. So I pick up several of these and put some in the freezer. I have not kept detailed records about this -- I do believe I spend less on groceries since giving up our Costco membership, and I *know* I like not having the headache of trying to get a half-day or more trip to the store in there every month or two. I also love that I'm supporting local businesses and not one a county away with my shopping dollars. SO there's my input!

I was thinking along these lines. Not all our kids have "Bible names" but they all have names with Biblical associations. For example, we have a son named "Will" and say it's because he's God's will for our lives. Another son has the middle name "True" because God is faithful and true. A daughter's middle name is Evangeline, from the word evangelist, another's is Joy, etc. Even our latest edition, a son named Axel, fits this category -- Axel is from a Hebrew word that means "My Father is peace". All Bible-related names if not Bible names. I'm dying to know your last name and the options we can work with in figuring out a name for your baby! :001_smile: (But understand that you probably don't want to share!) When I'm pregnant the baby-naming board at i-village is on my daily visit list ... people sitting around discussing possible names for their little ones.

There are swap boards at http://www.homeschoolchristian.com HTH!

Sarah, I would have to disagree with this conclusion. While exercise is definitely *good* I have found that it isn't necessary for weight loss. I have lost 30 lbs twice (regained with pregnancy) and one of the times didn't involve any exercise, the second involved some but I credit the weight loss more to cutting back calories than to exercising. I've started the process yet *again* (new baby 4 mos ago) and lost the first seven pounds so far without added exercise. What I do is wait until I'm physically hungry before I have a meal, and then stop when I'm physically satisfied. I see this as using the God-given signals of hunger and fullness to eat just what my body needs. It has worked very well over the years. Like I said, exercise is *good* and I enjoy a good walk regularly -- but in this way of doing it exercise doesn't cause the weight loss, it allows you to eat a little more than you otherwise would. I learned of these principles in the book Thin Within by Judy Halliday.

I would rather see a duplicate name in the family circle than something like Will Yum. Care to share some of your choices? I love discussing baby names. Names are tough and boys names even tougher! We just had our seventh baby -- fourth boy -- four months ago and we had quite a time coming up with something we agreed on. Like you, we each had a fave (mine was Jack, his Ezra) that the other didn't like. We settled on Axel (!) which we both now really like.

~K~ When was your little one born? Our situation sounds a lot like yours except I'm up and down several times over the period of a couple of hours. Axel is trying to suck on his hand, too (in fact DID fall asleep last night doing so), but isn't very adept at it yet.

You both have said what I think I already knew -- that I'm probably going to have to go through a rough patch until we're back to where we were. *Sigh*. I have used the paci (successfully?) with five of our other kids with no addictions, problems in breaking the use at a young age and etc. I like to use them mostly for quietness when needed (church for one). To break their use, I do it when they go down to one nap a day -- I keep them up until they are SUPER tired, then they just go to sleep rather than need the paci to suck to sleep because they're so wiped out. But I'm going plastic-free in other areas, so will likely head that way in this one, too. I'm just not there quite yet. Thanks SO much for your replies!

Another idea -- instead of the breakfast-y burritos with eggs, how about making up a huge batch of beef and/or pork and cheese burritos and giving him one or two of these on the way out the door? Just cook 3-4 lbs. of pork and/or beef roast, a couple of pounds of ground beef and/or sausage, some diced onion, canned green chilies and taco seasoning in the crock pot for 6-8 hours. Shred the roasts when done, then add 3-4 cups cooked rice or quinoa to the mixture. Fill tortillas, add some shredded cheese, roll up and then fry on low on both sides until lightly browned and the cheese melted. Then freeze these individually until used.

eBay? Thrift store? Craigslist.org? These are some of my ideas. I love chenille!

I will preface by saying I've used a pacifier with five of the six kids who came prior to the little 4 month old sitting on my lap as I type (the sixth was my first thumb sucker). This little guy -- Axel by name -- didn't use the pacifier for the first 2-1/2 or so months of his life. By that time he slept through the night a handful of times and was doing pretty well with getting back to sleep on his own if he woke up in the night. I decided about then that he no longer needed to nurse in the night -- for one, he's a CHUNK and for another, I just mommy-knew he didn't need the nourishment -- so my thinking went along the lines of "If he wakes up before let's say 5 a.m., I'm going to help him get back to sleep without nursing. Then he'll learn he doesn't need to nurse in the night and will just stop waking all the way up." Enter .... the pacifier. I started slipping this in his mouth and he'd go back to sleep! Wonderful! Marvelous! Addicting! Ack! So now I have a 4 month old who n.e.v.e.r. sleeps through the night and who NEEDS the paci to get back to sleep. And with the paci he doesn't zonk out for a long time like he used to after nursing. In and out of bed (his cradle is two feet away) over and over until he sleeps, but then he's still somewhat wakeful for 2-3 hours until I *do* nurse him. I've backtracked now to sometimes just nursing him when he wakes up at 3 or 4 and getting him to zonk out for another 3 hours. But I want off this crazy cycle! Anyone have any words of wisdom for this tired mom?

I haven't read all the other replies. Just wanted to put in my vote for the Mediterranean coast of Spain. That's dh's and my dream. We actually want to live there after our kids are grown.

How about a high protein smoothie in a travel cup? And some muffins served alongside?

Hopefully Cottage Living and Better Homes & Gardens fall into this category because these are my two monthly magazine subscriptions, lol. They ARE in my area of "intrigue" (homemaking). :)

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One of our littles ate just avocado and/or banana from 6-12 months ... he loved it and he's a super healthy little 8yo now. I loved it when I was set free from the rice cereal thing.

I wish! I'm pretty sure we have one more move in us and if I knew where that was going to land us I'd plant the trees in a jiffy. :) I'm pretty sure the apples we buy are from right here in Washington, and they're still expensive. I'll check next time I go to the store, though!